According to the "criminology textbook", the term "statutory rape" refers to sexual relations between an underage minor female and an adult male. Although the sex is not forced or coerced, the law says that young girls are incapable of giving informed consent, the act legally considered nonconsensual, but who defines this?
Typically, the state will define the age of consent above which there can be no criminal prosecution. The example to use for this paper would be the "State of Indiana." The state mandates that a male, 21 or over, having sex with a female, 14 and under is considered statutory rape. However, if the male was under the assumption the female was of legal age, should he be held liable? I feel he should not, and, let us examine some of the reasons why this law was enacted.
Statutory rape laws have a checkered past. …
